PRONUNCIATION / Science and learning

How to pronounce isthmus

Check isthmus pronunciation with CMUdict sound tokens and stress, then practise two original sentences and download a voiceover audition worksheet.

The dictionary sound sequence

CMUdict lists this North American English pronunciation for isthmus. Read each sequence from left to right. The numbers mark vowel stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

Dictionary variant 1

IH1 S M AH0 S

Syllable estimate: 2 vowel nuclei
Primary stress: 1st vowel position

Check isthmus in Merriam-Webster and listen to available dictionary audio.

Syllable counts come from vowel tokens; CMUdict does not supply syllable boundaries here. Variant order follows the dictionary and does not rank correctness. This lexicon does not represent every accent or context.

Use isthmus in context

Isthmus names a narrow strip of land connecting larger land areas. Geography narration should establish the connected regions and nearby water, particularly when the listener lacks a map. Clear place names and spatial relationships do more explanatory work than an isolated definition of the landform.

The railway crosses the isthmus near the old port.
A map of the isthmus shows bays on both sides.

Read the sound tokens

Each example word below is a cue for the named sound, rather than a respelling of isthmus. Unstressed vowels may sound reduced. These cues follow the CMU phoneme-set key (Appendix A).

IHsound in itvowel

Ssound in seaconsonant

Msound in meconsonant

AHsound in hutvowel

TAKE IT TO YOUR NEXT RECORDING

Make an audition worksheet

Select a dictionary variant for your checklist. The two original sentences retain their normal spelling; this worksheet helps you review a recording rather than forcing a speech engine to use phonemes.

Worksheet pronunciation variant

Your plain-text audition worksheet

How to pronounce isthmus

Word: isthmus
Dictionary variant: 1 of 1
CMUdict ARPABET: IH1 S M AH0 S
Vowel nuclei / estimated syllables: 2
Primary stress: 1st vowel position

ORIGINAL AUDITION SCRIPT
The railway crosses the isthmus near the old port.
A map of the isthmus shows bays on both sides.

REVIEW CHECKLIST
[ ] Read both sentences naturally; keep the source wording.
[ ] Compare the intended pronunciation with the selected dictionary variant.
[ ] Listen for vowel sounds, consonants, and word stress in context.
[ ] Check with a speaker or another dictionary when accent or meaning matters.
[ ] Generate and listen to a short Murmur sample before exporting the full script.

Practice note: Test isthmus alongside the relevant place names and spatial description. Listen for an intact word before the next phrase begins, then audition the whole map explanation slowly enough that listeners can reconstruct the connection between land and water.

CMUdict is a North American English lexicon, not a recording or a complete accent guide.
Variant order is dictionary order; it is not a ranking of correctness.
Source: https://github.com/cmusphinx/cmudict/blob/74790861f652b15e4ac49015a90074ad62a27690/cmudict.dict
Source commit: 74790861f652b15e4ac49015a90074ad62a27690
License: https://www.murmurtts.com/downloads/cmudict-license.txt
Reference: https://www.murmurtts.com/pronunciation/isthmus

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Dictionary source

The phonemes on this page come from CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. The dictionary maintainers acknowledge that errors and omissions can remain; check another source or a speaker when the pronunciation matters.

CMUdict README · Included dictionary license

Source version and checksum

Commit: 74790861f652b15e4ac49015a90074ad62a27690

Dictionary SHA-256: 81917843c7f44ce2b094ac63873c2c7a4cf802040792c455ba3ca406891c3d22

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